Picture this for a moment: you are surrounded by a group of people with little knowledge of how the world works, about science, biology and cosmology and you want to prove and solidify your position as a prophet of God. What would you do? The obvious thing to me is to give an answer (or make it up in some cases) to some of these problems or questions that an unlearned people would maybe like to know.
One thing people likely want to know is the reason behind certain conditions and ailments. If you are in pain and unsure of the reason or the cure it seems obvious to ask the Prophet of God himself for an answer. One such scenario occured when a woman suffered from vaginal bleeding that was not menstruation. People brought this to Muhammad for an explanation and he said the following:
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It was narrated from Aisha that Umm Habibah bint Jahsh who was married to ‘Abdur-Rahman bin ‘Awf suffered from Istihadah (non-mentrual vaginal bleeding) and did not become pure. Her situation was mentioned to the Messenger of Allah and he said: ‘That is not menstruation, rather it is a kick in the womb, so let her work out the length of the menses that she used to have, and stop praying, then after that let her perform Ghusl for every prayer.'”
Sunan Al-Nasa’i 210
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The entity that is kicking the woman is Satan. This is reported in Tirmhidi 128. This tirmhidi hadith was classed as Hasan-Sahih by Ahmad Hanbal and Abu Eisa (see link) and by Hasan by Al-Albani. The Nasa’i hadith was classed Sahih by Shuayb Arnaut and Sahih by Al-Albani.
Al-Sindi explains the reason that Satan does this after commenting on the Nasa’i hadith:
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“The statement: ‘rather it is a kick,’ meaning: ‘a kick from the Shaitan, as in the narration, and it is striking with the leg and causing injury. It is ascribed to the Shaitan because he found a way to confuse her in matters of her religion, ritual purity, and prayer.”
Hashiyat Musnad Ahmad 14/301
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For context here: Allah forbids women from praying during their period and rejects their prayers if they do. Allah implies this in Quran 2:222, but Muhammad makes it clear in the hadith in which he explains why women are the majority in Hell:
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The women asked, “O Allah’s Messenger ﷺ! What is deficient in our intelligence and religion?” He said, “Is not the evidence of two women equal to the witness of one man?” They replied in the affirmative. He said, “This is the deficiency in her intelligence. Isn’t it true that a woman can neither pray nor fast during her menses?” The women replied in the affirmative. He said, “This is the deficiency in her religion.”
Bukhari 304
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So women cannot pray and fast while menstruating, Satan knowing this information decides to enter a womans womb and kick her until she bleeds to prevent her from praying and fasting. I guess in a way, blaming Satan is a good move. The claim can’t be one-hundred percent proved wrong and you scapegoat a figure that is already vilified as evil so the people buy it.
The Islam Issue 